2008 Honorees

ROBERT W. SCHRIER, M.D.

Professor of Medicine, Former Chairman of the Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine; Former Head of the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado School of Medicine

Lifetime Achievement

Dr. Robert Schrier, Professor of Medicine, was formerly Chairman of the Department of
Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine for 26 years and Head of the
Division of Kidney Diseases and Hypertension for 20 years. In 1989 he was elected a
member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He has been
President of the Association of American Physicians, American Society of Nephrology,
National Kidney Foundation, and International Society of Nephrology. Dr. Schrier
is a Master of the American College of Physicians and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal
College of Physicians. He has authored over 900 scientific papers and edited 50 books
in internal medicine, geriatrics, drug usage, and kidney disease. His research, which
has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for the last 35 years, centers on the
pathogenesis of acute kidney failure, genetic kidney disorders, mechanisms of kidney cell
injury, diabetic nephropathy, and kidney and hormonal control of body fluid volume in
cirrhosis, cardiac failure, nephrotic syndrome, and pregnancy. He brings to his
research interests in a unique combination of expertise in body fluid control mechanisms,
kidney function, and cardiovascular function. He has advanced a world renowned
unifying hypothesis of sodium and water regulation in health and disease. During
Dr. Schrier’s 26 years as Chairman of Medicine at the University of Colorado the
full-time faculty increased from approximately 75 to 500 indivuduals. The annual
research grants by the Department’s full-time faculty rose from approximately $3 to
$100 million. The housestaff and fellow training programs became nationally prominent.
Thirty endowed research chairs between $1.5-2.0 million each were established. For
these contributions, Governor Owens announced an Honorary Proclamation designating May 4,
2002 Robert W. Schrier Day in Colorado and Mayor Wellington Webb proclaimed May 4, 2002,
Robert W. Schrier Day in the City and County of Denver. In 2002, Dr. Schrier received
the prestigious Belle Bonfils-Stanton Award for Contributions in Science and Medicine.

Dr. Schrier has received honorary degrees from DePauw University, University of Colorado, University of Silesia, and Medical College of Ohio. He has received the highest awards of the American College of Physicians (John Phillips Award), National Kidney Foundation (David Hume Award), American Society of Nephrology (John Peters Award), International Society of Nephrology (Jean Hamburger Award), German Society of Nephrology (Franz Vollhard Award), Western Society of Clinical Investigation (Mayo Soley Award), Association of Professors of Medicine (Robert H. Williams Award), American Kidney Fund (National Torchbearer Award), Association of American Physicians (Francis Blake Award), Acute Renal Failure Commission (Bywaters Award), New York Academy of Medicine (Edward N. Gibbs Memorial Award), University of Strasburg (Louis Pasteur Medal), Grand Hamdan International Award for Medical Sciences, and Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for his contributions in biomedical research, education, and clinical medicine.

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